Fourth Intake of Agricultural Stewardship Initiative Cost-Share Funding Program Opens July 8, 2026

This post was originally published on ONgreenhousevegetables.ca on  by Averie Mastronardi

The governments of Ontario and Canada are investing an additional $12 million through the Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (ASI) to help farmers adopt practical improvements that increase efficiency, reduce costs and build long-term resilience.

This initiative delivers on the government’s plan to protect Ontario’s farmers and agri-food sector by making strategic investments in cutting-edge solutions needed to support modern farming and help the sector remain resilient and competitive in the global marketplace.

Read on for program details and key dates.

Background

As part of the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Initiative, the Agricultural Stewardship Initiative (ASI), provides cost-share funding to support farmers to accelerate the adoption of best management practices (BMPs) supporting soil health, water quality, energy efficiency, and productivity benefits on agricultural land across Ontario. The Initiative also provides enhanced funding on a regional basis for projects contributing to phosphorus reductions in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watershed areas.

Eligible projects related to greenhouse production or outdoor ornamentals will focus on one of these project categories:

  • Basic Energy Use Assessment (Level 1)
  • Detailed Energy Audit (Level 2)
  • Energy Efficiency Improvements
  • Larger-Scale Energy Efficiency Improvements
  • Nutrient Application Equipment Modifications
  • Nutrient Management and Soil Health Planning
  • Adding Organic Amendments

You can find details on cost sharing and maximum funding for each of these categories here.

Program Details

This latest investment represents the fourth intake of the program and builds on the $15.5 million already invested to support approximately 1,000 projects across Ontario since 2023.

Funded through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, this initiative provides successful applicants with funding between $6,000 to $90,000 for projects that support soil health, water quality and energy efficiency improvements, including:

  • Replacing inefficient on-farm technologies
  • Installing geothermal heating and adopting high-efficiency motor, ventilation, heating, cooling, refrigeration and lighting systems.

The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) will continue delivering the Agricultural Stewardship Initiative through the fourth intake, which opens for applications on July 8, 2026. Program details, eligibility requirements and application guidance are available through the OSCIA website.

Key Dates

Intake open date: July 8, 2026 (9am, EDT)

Intake close date: July 29, 2026 (3pm, EDT)

Claim deadlines: February 15, 2027 and September 30, 2027



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GrowON Webinar: Planning Your Spring IPM Program with Ontario’s Crop Protection Hub!

Image
Still unfamiliar with Ontario’s Crop Protection Hub (fondly referred to as “Crop Hub”) and want to know more about it? Then join me (the Greenhouse Floriculture IPM Specialist) and Cara McCreary (Greenhouse Vegetable IPM Specialist) for a LIVE demonstration Thursday, Dec. 12 at noon ! This demo will be applicable to greenhouse vegetable, floriculture growers. Nursery crop growers that grow crops in greenhouses may also find this useful. During this webinar, we’ll walk you through examples on how to: Quickly access rates and REIs of greenhouse pest-control products Compare efficacies of pesticides and fungicides for Ontario pests Look up compatibility of chemical products with natural enemies Access the legal label easily for more infomation Read on for more details about this webinar. Upcoming Webinar on Crop Hub: What: Planning your spring IPM program with Ontario’s Crop Protection Hub Who: Sarah Jandricic (Greenhouse Floriculture IPM Specialist for OMAFA) and...
Read more

Guardian Network Training: Suicide Prevention Training for Field Staff supporting the Ag Community

Image
Don’t miss the upcoming exclusive Guardian Network virtual training session on July 30th . Designed specifically for Field Staff across Ontario who support the agricultural community . This includes agronomists, field service reps, soil & crop advisors, livestock & dairy specialists, equipment reps and others in similar roles. The session will take place virtually on July 30th from 9 am – 4 pm . As a Field Staff Professional, you may often have trusted relationships with farmers. This training can make a meaningful difference in equipping you to recognize signs of mental distress and connect farmers to the support they need. Scan the QR code in the flyer to register for the course. Visit the Guardian Network website for more information about how you can become involved in supporting suicide prevention for Ontario’s agricultural community.
Read more

Ontario’s Crop Protection Hub Highlights: New Features

Image
Hopefully, by now, many of you are familiar with Ontario’s Crop Protection Hub (fondly referred to as “Crop Hub”), a user-friendly tool to look up pesticides and their efficacy against floriculture insects and diseases in the Greenhouse Floriculture module . Earlier this growing season, new features were released on Crop Hub . Keep reading to see how these new features is to make it easier for users to view, compare and print crop protection information. Making it Easier to Compare Products When you complete a crop protection search for a particular crop in Crop Hub, you will land on product results in the “Grid view” format, as usual. Grid view shows all products registered for use in that crop . If you click on the “efficacy” button at the bottom of each “baseball card” (as I like to call them), you’ll see a quick snapshot of the efficacy of that product against all registered pests (if you haven’t selected a pest), or just one pest (if you select on from the list). Click...
Read more